‘Tragic situation:’ Sisters killed after vehicle crashes into Fresno home during deputy pursuit

The two women killed when a vehicle crashed into a Fresno home Wednesday night are sisters.

The crash occurred as a result of an 18-year-old suspect trying to flee from law enforcement during a short pursuit.

The coroner identified the victims as 25-year-old Mang Yang and 18-year-old Eliza Yang, both of Fresno.

“Very tragic situation,” Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni said. “If he would have just pulled over, this whole tragic incident could have been avoided.”

Deputies arrested Adam Canales, who fled from a disturbance involving alleged gang members at Verrue Avenue and Eighth Street, north of Tulare Street.

Deputies said Canales jumped into a white Chevy Tahoe and sped away, and also ran a stop sign.

A deputy turned on his light and siren to make a traffic stop, but Canales did not pull over and sped up on Eighth Street and across Nevada Avenue. Canales crashed near Cedar Avenue, driving through a fence and into a bedroom of a house. where the sisters were located.

Canales ran from the scene and was located by the police helicopter at 4500 block of E. Ball Avenue. He surrendered to deputies. He was booked into Fresno County Jail for evading police and vehicular manslaughter.

He is also facing an infraction for driving with alcohol in his system and being under 21 years old.

Zanoni said the pursuit lasted just 27 seconds.

“I want to emphasize that because as our deputy came on the radio and was calling out that he was in pursuit, by the time he gave out his location the suspect vehicle had crashed into the residence,” Zanoni said.

“Very short period of time, literally as soon as the pursuit started, it ended.”

Zanoni said Good Samaritans tried to help the family of nine by trying to lift the vehicle. Others pulled sections of the house. One neighbor attempted to use a jack to lift the Tahoe.

Zanoni said Canales is a known gang member and was on probation for possession of a gun and has prior arrests for possession of guns.

Fresno Police later received a call for service at the prior location of a large disturbance of 50 people, Zanoni said.

“He was driving very recklessly and almost hit a couple of our patrol cars that were right there in the area,” Zanoni said.

“That’s when they decided to turn around and decided to go after him and try to make an enforcement stop, which at the time they didn’t know how many occupants were in the vehicle.”

Zanoni said they have a policy on when to cancel the pursuit, but the short amount of time wasn’t enough before Canales struck the home.

A vigil will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 559-600-3111 or Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867, www.valleycrimestoppers.org and can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward. Reference case # 24-11907.